I am a huge Sookie Stackhouse (SVM) addict, and yes I love the show. (Equally addicted) I was wondering if you could suggest some books that are along the same lines? I have several series but none that really just make me want to read read read, so what do YOU like that's similar or in the same genre?

[hmorphone]

Possibly the Queen Betsy series by Mary-Janice Davidson. Not the same, but you ought to check it out.

[Bohica60]

Being a big fan of the show, I was surprised when I started reading the first book and found out that there were some BIG differences in the plotlines!

I need to get started (or restarted) reading the books again!

As far as vampire books go, it seems like that is about 60-80% of what is getting posted around here sometimes!

Some board searches with words like vampire, vampyr, vampyre, etc., will probably turn up whole bunches of them.

[zackddog]

Love the show. I've yet to read one of the books. I'm not a big fan of vampire books, the last one I read was the Christopher Farnsworth "President's Vampire" series, and only because he gets to kill bad guys and kick ass for a good cause. I really have no idea why vampires have turned into romantic heroes, I guess it's because of that "He can be fixed and find redemption and I'm the woman to do it" thing. I'm of the "Blade" vampire school, the only good vampire is a dead vampire. Turned into ashes dead vampire.

I will now duck and bring my death ray shields up.

Anyone knows when the next Farnsworth book comes out?

[zackddog]

It was nice meeting you all.

[Bohica60]

"Danger! Will Robinson. Danger!"

[he11ion]

Ok, I have to do a turn about here, I read the books prior to seeing the show and although I did get a little irritated with Sookie consistently hovering on the fringes of serious commitment ….. I kept telling myself if she doesn’t commit in this book, then that’s it!!!. Oh well I told myself this, but found myself avidly reading the next release hoping that this would be the one!!!

I purchased the first season of the show and wow… was I disappointed, the actress who played Sookie sort of well….. sucked…. And there were so many conflicts with the book, it put me right off. I received the second season of DVD’s as a present and was pleased to see a vast improvement in Sookies portrayal, but I still feel that the casting could have been better, thank God for Eric

Both Twilight and Eragon were the same dismal disappointments for me when viewed after reading the books, but I think this is mainly due to the casting of lead characters. I enjoyed the Davince Code, both the book and the movie equally, but then again, the actor’s ability had a large part to play.

I really liked the Twilight Series and could not put down the Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare. I have also read both Jr Ward and Lara Adrian's series and found them to be ok, but in both cases I did not manage to read beyond the sixth book.

Cheers

[he11ion]

"Danger! Will Robinson. Danger!"

"Beam him up Scottie"

[hmorphone]

hellion raises some interesting points.
We could take up a whole thread just discussing the differences between the books and the tv show.

Then there's the matter of the direction the books take.
Sookie seemed to somewhat finally be committed to one "person," but the last book seems to portend doom for that relationship.
Evidently, Charlaine Harris has more or less said that Sookie will end up with someone different than she's hooked up with so far.

The problem I see, coming off a run of vamp books, is that there are not really that many similar authors/series.

Sure, there are plenty of vamp books to be found Bohica, but most are entirely different from the Sookie books.
Charlaine Harris has provided an interesting mix of humor, drama, mystery, the paranormal, and sex.
Many of the "competing" authors write entirely different books.
The most unoriginal ones simply drop vamps into a Harlequin type setting and substitute vamp for rake.
Others go all out with the horror, like Blade only darker.
Some, like Twilight, just exist in their own little universe.
Some of the YA vamp books are a little similar to the Sookie books too.
The reason I suggested the Queen Betsy series is that it's a little more similar to the Sookie books.
Kind of like what the Southern Vamp series might be after half a bottle of wine.
If she lost a lot of her sense of humor and moved to Chicago, you might have the Chicagoland Vampire series.
If she ate a few shrooms and overdosed on estrogen, you might end up with the Real Vampires series.

[womble]

Possibly the Queen Betsy series by Mary-Janice Davidson. Not the same, but you ought to check it out.

I'm surprised your not recomending 'Twilight' (as she ducks and convers!!!)
Ok, to the 'Vamp' section (series business, no jokes!):
Alexandra Ivy - Gaurdians of Eternity series *
Angela Knight - Mageverse series
Ann Lory - Eternal series
Anne Rice - Vampire Chronicles (not for the faint of heart, some MM content)
Bianca D'arc - Brotherhood of Blood & Lords of the Were series *
Bianca Sommerland - Rosemary Entwined
Brian Lumley - Necroscope series (Highly erotic content, hardcore vamp killing)
C T Adams - Thrall series
CAT Adams - Blood Singer (aka C T Adams)
Delilah Devlin - Dark Realm & My Eternal Knight series
D D Barant - Bloodhound Files (alternate universe theme)
Diane whiteside - Texas Vampires series
Faith V Smith - Bonded by Blood Series *
H T Night - Vampire Love Story
J R Ward - Black Dagger Brotherhood *
Jennifer Rardin - Jaz parks series
Jory Strong - Carnival series
Karen Chance - Dhampir series
Keri Arthur - Niki & Michael series
Kerrelyn Sparks - Love at Stake series
Lara Adrian - Midnight Breed series *
Laurell K Hamilton - Anita Blake (very erotic, lots of mfm)
Lauren Dane - Witches Knott series
Lynn Viehl - Kyn & Kyndred series *
Lynsay Sands - Argeneau series *
Mandy Roth - Gwyneth Stevens series
Maria Lima - Blood lines series *
Mechele Armstrong - Bloodlines seris
Michele Bardsley - Broken Heart series
Michelle Rowan - Immortality Bites series
Rhiannon Neely - Ravens Revisited series
Shannon K Butcher - Sentinel Wars series *
Sherrilyn Kenyon - Dark Hunter series
Violet Summers - Saving Jenna & Forever Rowan

The ones with * I thought were most similar, but I love them all Don't get me started on werewolves!!

[zackddog]

Others go all out with the horror, like Blade only darker.
Some, like Twilight, just exist in their own little universe.
Some of the YA vamp books are a little similar to the Sookie books too.
The reason I suggested the Queen Betsy series is that it's a little more similar to the Sookie books.
Kind of like what the Southern Vamp series might be after half a bottle of wine.
If she lost a lot of her sense of humor and moved to Chicago, you might have the Chicagoland Vampire series.
If she ate a few shrooms and overdosed on estrogen, you might end up with the Real Vampires series.

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! I swear, you probably have 100 assistant producers scrambling trying to find 5 or 6 40-some fem vamps with enough estrogen, silicon, botox and saline solution in them to start their own small pharma company in China. If I ever see that show on the lineup I'll come find you and take to Disney and tie you up at the "It's a Small World" ride and have you listen to the song until you go crazy.

Semi-serious question hmorphone: Is hydromorphone the stuff that the so called pain clinics in FL are peddling to drug addicts? Or is it hydrocodone? I ask because I had a small gathering at my house a couple of months ago, and my ( I have a long standing prescription for it) Hydrocodone was stolen. When I went to see the doctor to get a refill, I was read the riot act (which I expected) and told that this was a one time deal, more lost pills and I would have to wait until the next cycle. I asked what precisely was the big deal about it, the drug, the price or how hard it was to get. The nurse said that one pill goes from ten to thirty dollars each as a street drug, and that a lot of people who had a prescription were selling them to make all the cash. I know I had to sign some papers a while back promising not to give them away or sell them, I think now I know why. I had 120 pills stolen, lots of money there.

Dang it, the question was: How do they use it? I swallow a couple every so often and all I feel is a lack of pain.

[hmorphone]

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! I swear, you probably have 100 assistant producers scrambling trying to find 5 or 6 40-some fem vamps with enough estrogen, silicon, botox and saline solution in them to start their own small pharma company in China. If I ever see that show on the lineup I'll come find you and take to Disney and tie you up at the "It's a Small World" ride and have you listen to the song until you go crazy.

Semi-serious question hmorphone: Is hydromorphone the stuff that the so called pain clinics in FL are peddling to drug addicts? Or is it hydrocodone? I ask because I had a small gathering at my house a couple of months ago, and my ( I have a long standing prescription for it) Hydrocodone was stolen. When I went to see the doctor to get a refill, I was read the riot act (which I expected) and told that this was a one time deal, more lost pills and I would have to wait until the next cycle. I asked what precisely was the big deal about it, the drug, the price or how hard it was to get. The nurse said that one pill goes from ten to thirty dollars each as a street drug, and that a lot of people who had a prescription were selling them to make all the cash. I know I had to sign some papers a while back promising not to give them away or sell them, I think now I know why. I had 120 pills stolen, lots of money there.

Dang it, the question was: How do they use it? I swallow a couple every so often and all I feel is a lack of pain.

No, but close (sort of.) The pain clinics in my illustrious state are primarily peddling oxycodone (Percocet, Oxycontin, excet.), Hydromorphone (Dilaudid) is a bit more powerful yet, but is much less likely to be perscribed as it has a bit a stigma as being for very serious uses only. Hydrocodone, while being rather similar to the first two, is several notches less powerful. In the US a doctor can call in perscriptions for hydrocodone, but not for the first two, except in cases of emergency. Hydrocodone's "high" is just as appealing to a pain-killer addict, but at the same time, hydrocodone is often much less desirable to the same people due to it not being potent enough to sustain the addiction/habit. Sort of like an alcoholic that drinks a fifth of vodka a day being presented with beer. It is still rather "stealable." The doctor's office response is typical - part of the requests they receive to replace lost/stolen pain meds are bogus, the result of people selling, or more likely, over-using their perscription and running out. The street price they think "their" perscriptions are worth is highly exaggerated. While it would highly vary, to the best of my knowledge hydrocodone is worth about one to five dollars a piece on the street. On a side note, one other thing that affects those who abuse these drugs is the tylenol content. Too many at once = too much tylenol = serious medical issues.

On the question of the difference between your use and theirs?
Several reasons. The main one is that in the presence of legitimate pain, the high does not appear unless the meds are significantly stronger than the pain.
The next would be that those who are born with the genes that predispose to addiction have bodies that don't react the same to the presence of the drug.
Even if that weren't significant or correct, it is well known that the body changes and adapts to the ongoing presence of the drug, particularly when taken more ofter or not in the presence of pain. Also, tolerance plays a factor. You may take just enough to relieve your pain, but someone else may continue to add in an extra pill or three until they feel the desired effect.

Side note - Yes, if Hollywood gets a hold of Gerry Bartlett's series we may all be doomed. In that case being tied up to A Small World could actually be considered merciful!

[womble]

I love vamp movies like Blade, lots of violence, blood & menacing vampires, much better than the harlequin versions meh
I've never read Gerry Bartlett, it's been on my TBR for ages but I may have to reconsider that, if it's as bad as you say

Side note - Yes, if Hollywood gets a hold of Gerry Bartlett's series we may all be doomed. In that case being tied up to A Small World could actually be considered merciful!

I still have nightmares about that ride - when my son was 7 that ride & dumbo were the only ones that didn't scare him - shudder.

[hmorphone]

Ah Miss womble, that seems to indicate that you've visited my home state!
It's a small...(nvermind!)

I didn't mean to imply Gerry Bartlett series was awful, in fact you could find it just your cup of tea.
I find it, for myself, just interesting enough to keep on with the series, but barely.
It's a little difficult to convey the sense of the Real Vampire world.
As titles like Real Vampires Don't Wear Size Six convey, our heroine was a bit overweight when she was turned, and thus appears to be trapped that way for eternity.
Her on again, off again, is a virile he-man highlander type of vamp, but she's somewhat fascinated with a few other fellas as well.
There's a fair amount of gratuitious nookie, but not enough to throw it into the erotica category.
There are some interesting (and sometimes annoying) fellow vamps, a true-blood like drink, and a fair amount of other kinds of paranormal.
There's a telepathic dog/bodyguard who's actually a virile shifter, well you get the drift.

[zackddog]

Side note - Yes, if Hollywood gets a hold of Gerry Bartlett's series we may all be doomed. In that case being tied up to A Small World could actually be considered merciful!

"When The Real Vampires Of New Jersey Met Jerseylicious: The Mini-Series"

"Kim Karvampshian and her sisters do everyone"

Kill me if any of those shows ever air.